For millions of Nigerian households, keeping children in school has become a tougher financial calculation as education costs rise faster than many family incomes.
The pressure is particularly acute in private schools, where parents face tuition alongside textbooks, uniforms, transport, examination charges and other levies. Claims that fees have risen by as much as 200% over five years vary by school and location, so there is no nationally representative data supporting a uniform increase of that scale.
The broader affordability problem, however, is clear. Nigeria’s official inflation rate has fallen sharply following the rebasing of the Consumer Price Index, reaching 15.91% on the National Bureau of Statistics’ current index. That does not mean prices have returned to earlier levels; households continue to face substantially higher costs than before.
For families earning around the ₦70,000 monthly minimum wage, a private-school bill running into hundreds of thousands of naira a year can consume a significant share of household income, particularly where several children are enrolled.
The Federal Government introduced a reusable textbook policy in January 2026, seeking to reduce recurring expenses by promoting durable textbooks designed to last four to six years. The policy also prohibits schools from bundling disposable workbooks with textbooks and encourages reuse across academic sessions.
The reform could reduce one of the recurring costs faced by parents, although implementation across states and schools will determine its practical impact.
For tertiary students, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) had disbursed ₦154.37 billion to 788,947 students by December 2025, from more than 1.26 million applications. The interest-free scheme covers institutional fees and student upkeep.
Private-sector intervention is also expanding. LAPO Microfinance Bank’s EduFinance programme includes school-fee loans of up to ₦100,000, with reported rates of 3% to 5% monthly. The institution said the programme had disbursed more than ₦4 billion, supporting over 45,000 students and 3,800 school proprietors.
Digital learning is another part of the response. UNICEF and the Federal Ministry of Education have expanded the Nigeria Learning Passport, which provides curriculum-aligned learning content online and through offline-enabled options. UNICEF reported more than 750,000 registered users in 2023.
The measures offer relief, but they do not resolve the affordability gap. Sustained investment in public education, household incomes and targeted financial support will be critical if rising education costs are not to translate into more children leaving school.
